Antonius Maximus to Sabina, his sister, very many greetings. Before all else I pray that you are well, for I myself am well. While making mention of you before the gods here, I received a letter from Antonius our fellow citizen. And when I learned that you are well, I rejoiced exceedingly. And I, at every opportunity, do not hesitate to write to you about my welfare and (that) of my family. Greet Maximus much and Kopres, my lord. My wife (life partner), Aufidia, greets you and so does Maximus my son, whose birthday is the thirtieth of Epeiph according to Greek (calendar), as well as Elpis and Fortunata. Greet my lord [six mutilated lines follow, probably containing additional greetings] I pray that you may be well. [verso (outside address)] To Sabina, (his) sister, from (her) brother Antonius Maximus.(Translation: Klauck 2006: 15-16)

The letter is written by Antonius Maximus. He is thought to be the same man as the Egyptian Apion, who had been given the name Antonius Maximus when he had enlisted in the fleet at Misenum. In the first letter he was writing home to his father, but this second letter was sent to his sister, Sabina.

Antonius has just received news that the sister is in good health and rejoices. From the following lines, where he assures her that he always sends her accounts of his own welfare, we can understand that it is a fairly regular correspondence.

Antonius offers his greetings to someone called Maximus and Kopres. These are thought to be the son and husband of the sister. For his own part, Antonius has, since the first letter to the father, found a life companion called Aufidia and has had three children. The children are two girls called Elpis and Fortunata, and a son named Maximus, who seems to have been born recently, as Antonius informs Sabina of the boy’s birth month. Towards the end of the letter several lines are missing.

Several years must have passed since the first preserved letter as Antonius has had three children, and since he is writing to his sister, the father might very well have died in the meantime. Despite the time gap Antonius maintained contacts with the family back home in Egypt – a family he probably had not seen during this service in the fleet.

ξιμος. ἐρρῶσθαί σε εὔχομαι.

κεντυρί(α) Ἀθηνονίκη. (On left margin)

. . . .] . [. . .] . [Verso:

ε[ἰς] Φ[ιλ]αδέλφιαν Ἐπιμάχῳ ἀπὸ Ἀπίωνος υἱοῦ. (Added below)

ἀπόδος εἰς χώρτην πρῖμαν Ἀπαμηνῶν᾿ Ιο[υλι]α[ν]οῦ ἀντ[ι-]

λιβλαρίῳ ἀπὸ Ἀπίωνος ὥστε Ἐπιμάχῳ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ.

Apion to Epimachus, his father and lord, very many greetings. Before all else I pray for your health and that you may always be well and prosperous, together with my sister and her daughter and my brother. I thank the lord Serapis that when I was in danger at sea he straightway saved me. On arriving at Misenum I received from Caesar three gold pieces for travelling expenses. And it is well with me. Now I ask you, my lord and father, write me a letter, telling me first of your welfare, secondly of my brother’s and sister’s, and enabling me thirdly to make obeisance before your handwriting, because you educated me well and I hope thereby to have quick advancement, if the gods so will. Give many salutations to Capiton and my brother and sister and Serenilla and my friends. I have sent you by Euctemon a portrait of myself. My name is Antonius Maximus, my company the Athenonica. I pray for your health. (Postscript) Serenus son of Agathodaemon salutes you, and . . ., and Turbo son of Gallonius, and . . . (Addressed) To Philadelphia, to Epimachus from Apion his son. (Additional address) Deliver at the camp of the first cohort of the Apameni to Julianus, vice-secretary, this letter from Apion to be forwarded to his father Epimachus. (Translation: Hunt & Edgar 1932: no. 112)

Apion is a young man from Egypt, newly enlisted in the Roman fleet. He has just arrived at the headquarters of the fleet stationed in Misenum on the fringe of the bay of Naples and is writing home to his father in Philadelphia in Egypt. For us today, the letter is full of important information about marine recruits and their families.

Apion wants to assure his relatives of his safe arrival despite of dangers during his passage. Consequently he gives thanks to the god Serapis. Of the relatives at home, he begs to be reassured of the good health of the father as well as his brother and sister. He goes on to praise the education the father has provided for him, because he is convinced it will secure him advancement. The advancement he is aiming for could be a cosy desk job, since literate soldiers could be enrolled as scribes and adjutants for officers, relieving them from some of the arduous tasks of the regular grunts.

He goes on by sending all his best regards to family and friends at home. He has also taken the trouble of having a portrait made, which he is sending separately by someone called Euctemon.

Apion finishes his letter by informing his father that he is now called Antonius Maximus, and that he is serving in a unit called Athenonica. The marines serving in the Roman fleets came from different corners of the empire and had (at least to the Romans on the Italian peninsula) strange unpractical foreign names. Consequently, when the newly enlisted marines received their postings they were also given Roman sounding names. In the fleets the name of the unit is in fact the name of the ship on which Apion served. The two pieces of information are extremely important as they were needed for the father to be able to write back to Apion. As it is clear from the address written on the back of the letter, it reached his father’s hand via despatches to military units.

That Apion was not entirely alone in a new world can be seen in the margin of the papyrus letter where a number of other men send their regards back to Philadelphia. These are likely to be new recruits who enlisted in the fleet alongside Apion.

We anxiously await your return

The sarcophagus shows one of the dangers of seafaring. Three different naves onerariae (cargo ships) are riding the waves in what is usually understood as a harbour entrance. A person has fallen in the water and is seen in front of the ship in the middle. The three characters seen on each of the ships toil at the sails and rudders, while at the same time trying to rescue their comrade in distress. They have deployed a small boat to facilitate the rescue. On the far right is seen a lighthouse, while a building with a roof terrace is seen on the left. From the roof terrace two characters watch in anxiety as the drama unfolds.

Reportedly the sarcophagus comes from Ostia and consequently the drama must be set in Rome’s main harbour – Portus, at Ostia. Alternatively the scene might allude to an entire voyage from Portus to Alexandria – represented by the anxious persons waiting in Portus/Ostia in one end and the famous Pharos (the lighthouse) in Alexandria at the other. The route between Portus and Alexandria was the lifeblood of Rome as it facilitated the Egyptian grain supply that sustained the population.

Yet there could be other reasons for undertaking the journey between the two cities, as for instance shown by Apion’s letter or a paragraph in the accounts of the geographer Strabo (Geographia 17.1.8) who visited Alexandria with a Roman prefect. What is at risk in this case is not the cargo or the vessel as such, but rather the survival of the individual struggling in the waves. Consequently, the main characters of this story is not trade, but the individual’s journey and the impact this has on the people left behind.

Measurements: h.: 52, l.: 178, w.: 54 cm.

Other: No inscription.

I am indebted to the curator of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Jan Kindberg Jacobsen, for allowing me to produce and show this model and for providing me with photos (by Nikoline Saur Petersen) of the rear side of the sarcophagus when it was moved for a temporary exhibition.

To the spirits of the dead. For Pomponia Valentina, the well-deserving wife, and for Marcus Domitius Valentinus, the sweetest son of 6 years and 11 months. Marcus Domitius Valens, soldier in the praetorian fleet at Misenum, had this grave made.

The epitaph commemorates the wife and son of a marine enlisted in the fleet stationed at Misenum near present-day Naples.

Some groups within Roman society keep on occurring in epitaphs and other inscriptions from antiquity, whereas others occur seldom or not at all. Two of the most common groups are the freedmen and the soldiers. We thus have easier access to information about for instance soldiers, than to a number of other groups within society that are often hidden in the epigraphic record. The men serving in the Roman fleets shared much of the epigraphic habit of their landlubber counterparts within the army. As in the case of Marcus Domitius Valens above, the members of the fleet often stated their affiliation to a specific part of the fleet – in this instance the fleet stationed at Misenum.

Though the exact find spot of the inscription is unknown, it was reportedly from Rome – quite some way from Misenum. However, part of the Misenum fleet was stationed at barracks in the capital west of the Flavian amphitheatre (Colosseum). Did Pomponia and little Marcus tag along as their husband and father was stationed alternately at Rome and at Misenum? Evidence from frontier forts and fortresses are piling up to indicate that women and children did participate in daily life within military bases. Yet this is not necessarily the same as living together within the base. So where did Pomponia and Marcus live, and more important what effect did they have on daily life in Rome and Misenum, both within and outside of the military installation?